I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume pretty much anyone who reads this and is a Christian will disagree with the above statement. Would it ruin my credibility if I said I might agree that God does help those who help themselves? At least… in the spiritual sense.
You see, I’m relatively new to the Youth Ministry scene. It did not take me long, however, to figure out that Youth Ministry is relentless. What I mean is, I was unaware that I signed up for a job that put me on call 24/7, a job that had no regard for holidays, family functions, or personal time. Little did I know but I did not sign up for a job, it was more like I adopted giant extended family. I simply did not understand the amount of time and energy required to build a ministry that will thrive; and by thrive I mean a ministry that actively invites both students and leaders to interact with the living God, a ministry that reflects who this God of ours is, and a ministry that sees the fruit of changed lives and won souls. Now, as I look back, I realize what a tall order that truly is, but at the time it was me and God, and the Bible says, “I can do most things through Christ who gives me strength”…Right?(I almost had you didn’t I?) NO… I can do ALL things, and with that confidence I proceeded onward.
Soon enough I realized I can’t do it, I’m overwhelmed and ready to call it quits. The results are not coming, there is no numerical growth to the group and worse still there is no evidence of spiritual growth. I found myself stressed out, worn out, and burned out with nothing left to give. Then God shows up.
At this point you can visually see the evidence of my frustrations on my face and in my body language. Then in an impromptu meeting with my pastor he asks me, “How are you Jon? What I mean is, how are you and God?” Then it hit me… “me and God?” I answer with a little quiver in my voice. I haven’t really thought about me and God directly for some time. I was far too busy for that. It seems I got side tracked somewhere in the midst of the chaos of Youth Ministry and began living by a new verse without even realizing it. “I can do all things through JON who gives me strength”.
I began to discover what Youth Ministry veterans have known for years. My relationship with the Lord has a direct correlation to the overall spiritual health of my students, leaders, and ministry as a whole. When I deny my personal spiritual life for the greater good, purposefully or not, I not only do myself a disservice, but also my entire ministry. You see, God created us with a regular need for rest and a regular need to be rejuvenated by His Spirit. This is why we see Jesus sneaking off for some alone time throughout His ministry. He recognized His need for the Father and made His walk with the Father His number one priority. Far above preaching, healing, fighting the religious leaders, or even saving the lost. I began to discover this Jesus who was desperately dependent on the Father and His rejuvenating Spirit. How much more, then, should that be our mission in our ministry? As we grow closer to the Father we will become all the more sensitive to the ever present whisper of His Spirit which will impact how we teach our students, disciple our leaders, interact in office politics, and reach the lost. You see, there is nothing more important to your ministry than your personal relationship with God. It did not take me long to discover that as God was working in me He sprinkled everything I did with His Spirit. As a result, messages seem to reach further, hearts are touched deeper, and lives are truly impacted by the Spirit who is living and active inside of me. Whether you are a rookie like me, or a veteran of youth ministry, whether you are full of ideas and energy, or you find yourself burned out with nothing left to give, do yourself and your ministry a favor and put you and God at the top of your priority list. It almost seems that we are to BE the work of God before we can fully and effectively DO the work of God. Maybe, just maybe, God does help those who help themselves, at least in this sense.
I enjoyed you blog Jon. Look forward to reading the next because the point you drove home here certainly applies to my life – I need to do better at me and God!!!
Dear Jon (just had to say that),
This is a great blog. Truly something to think about because I do think anyone who serves others for the Lord does get overwhelmed and burnt out, then when they step back and look they will notice that they have taken their eye of God.
Gil is great about reminding me to take time with the Lord when I get overwhelmed.
On a side note, I want you to know that I appreciate all you and Nicole are doing with the youth. I, in particular, and thankful for the time you spend with Matthew. At times I have looked at you and wondered how you do it and I did wonder if you knew what you were getting yourself into when you signed up to be the youth pastor. You have become part of our extended family. I know as a parent I rely so much on the youth pastor of my son.
Just the other day as I drove to work I thought, “I should write a thank you note to Jon. He has been so great with Matthew.” This is my note. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I, for one, will always keep you in prayer because I know it is a tough job and you don’t always see the fruits of your labor.
With a heart of thankfulness,
Marjy
“As we grow closer to the Father we will become all the more sensitive to the ever present whisper of His Spirit”
How exciting it is to have a Lord who guides us through life!
Hey Jon,
Being in youth ministry is probably one of the hardest calls to answer, but it’s worth it and awesome to see the youth grow in their faith. I’m glad you were reminded that God is the one who sustains and empowers us to persevere, even during tough seasons in ministry.
I would like to ask about one point you made about “Jesus realizing his need for the Father” and how he was “desperately dependent on the Father.” I don’t know of you intended this, but it sounds like Jesus lacked something that he could only have through his relationship with God. But Jesus is God, and saying that God recognized his need for God doesn’t make sense. While God the Father has authority over God the Son, that authority comes from Christ’s relationship to his Father, not from any idea that Christ was less powerful or wise than the Father. Philippians 2 tells us that Christ being fully God chose to glorify his Father by submitting to his plan of redemption (the death of God the Son on the cross) .
Christ’s dependence on God was not a desperate move, but an act of love toward his Father. This difference makes Christ more than just an example to follow, but also displays the cost Christ was willing to make to set aside his right as God so that we might be saved.
Christ is our example to follow, but his work on the cross is the reason why God can give us the grace to follow. Your ministry’s fruitfulness is directly correlated to your dependence on and identity in Jesus Christ, the true vine.
Hey Brett,
Thank you so much for reading the post and taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it and love the fact that your comment drove me straight back into God’s word to seek clarity.
“I don’t know if you intended this, but it sounds like Jesus Lacked something that He could only have through His relationship with God.”
If you swap out the very last word in your statement (God) with the word “Father” that is exactly what I intended to say. I 100% agree with you that Jesus is fully God but even in His divinity the Son is dependent on the Father just as the Father is dependent on the Son and Holy Spirit as fellow members of the trinity. They are all equally dependent on each other as none could exist without the others. I do not believe the doctrine of the trinity is our issue here though.
I do not believe our hang up here is with Christ’s dependence on the Father either as you agree that Christ was dependent on the Father in your comment, “ Christ’s dependence on God (the Father) was not a desperate move, but an act of love towards the Father.” Your make an excellent point here and I totally agree with you. I think our issue is with my usage of the phrase “desperately dependent”. I would like to define for you my usage of the word “desperately”. In Merriam-Websters dictionary desperately is defined in two very different ways, one way is very literal and one is more poetic if you will. Definition 1. “In a desperate manor” with desperate being defined as “Moved by despair or Having lost hope”. Definition 2. “Extremely, terribly” with extreme being defined as “existing in a very high degree”. My usage of the word “desperately” is meant to coincide more with definition 2.. The context I am using this in has to do with Jesus’ great need to be rejuvenated or restored by the Father regularly through fellowship and prayer in solitude. We often see Jesus going off alone to pray to begin His day or sending crowds and the disciples away after a long busy day so that He may be alone with His Father. (Mark 1:35, Mark 6:41-46, Luke 5:7, Luke 6:12, Luke 9:18) In Luke 22:39-49 we see Jesus who is quite desperate for the Father to the point of sweating blood. The Father hears Jesus’ desperate plea and immediately is moved to take action by sending an Angel from heaven to strengthen His son for the task quickly approaching. In this we catch a glimpse of the humanity of Christ and are able to appreciate all the more what an incredible sacrifice it was for the Father to send the Son down to take on human flesh so we can have the opportunity to accept His redemption that is freely offered to us.
I hope this helps clarify where I was coming from. Thanks again for your comment, I will be more than happy to continue to dialog if you deem it necessary. Thanks for checking out our blog. Proverbs 27:17